Approval of content updates

ABSTRACT

A method, computer program product, and system is described. An indication of a problem regarding a content item is received, the content item being subject to a workflow including an approval protocol. A request for an emergency exception to the workflow with respect to an update to the content item is received, the update being associated with the problem. Permission for circumvention of one or more aspects of the approval protocol with respect to the update is provided, in response to receiving the request for the emergency exception.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The subject application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication with Ser. No. 13/845,375, filed on Mar. 18, 2013, the entirecontent of which is herein incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This disclosure relates to workflow management.

BACKGROUND

A workflow management application (or process) may facilitate themanagement of workflow for particular content items (e.g., a document, awebpage, a software code segment, and so on) and/or modifications tocontent items. For example, a workflow management application may beconfigured to assist in creating, modifying, approving, publishing, ordeleting content items, management of various aspects of these tasks,and various other workflow-related functionality. A workflow managementapplication may, for example, facilitate saving of one or more versionsof a content item and/or notifying content authors and/or contentreviewers or approvers of various assignments, statuses, upcoming events(e.g., due dates), and so on. As such, for example, a workflowmanagement application may generally facilitate the flow of contentitems and information (e.g., information regarding particular tasks orevents) in a workflow system. A workflow management application (orprocess) may include, in certain instances, a web content managementapplication (e.g., an application that facilitate the management ofdocuments, such as webpages, that available over various networks,including the internet, corporate intranets, and so on) and or variousrelated functionality

Content approval may refer to the process through which approval of aparticular content item (and/or revisions thereto) may be managed. Acontent item (or “content”) may be a file or other representation ofinformation, such as a document, a webpage, a presentation, and so on.It may be desirable, for example, in various settings, to obtainapproval from one or more designated individuals for a particularcontent item before publishing the content (and/or otherwise advancingthe content through various stages of a workflow such as creation,refinement, distribution, and so on). In certain instances, it may beappropriate to obtain tiered approval for a content item (e.g., approvalfrom a series of individuals, with the content item being submitted tothe next approver(s) in the series based upon receiving approval fromthe preceding approver(s) in the series).

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

According to one aspect of the disclosure, a computer-implemented methodincludes receiving, by one or more computing devices, an indication of aproblem regarding a content item, the content item being subject to aworkflow including an approval protocol. The method includes receiving,by the one or more computing devices, a request for an emergencyexception to the workflow with respect to an update to the content item,the update being associated with the problem. The method includesproviding, by the one or more computing devices, permission forcircumvention of one or more aspects of the approval protocol withrespect to the update, in response to receiving the request for theemergency exception.

One or more of the following features may be included. The method mayinclude providing a notification of the permission to an administratorassociated with the workflow. The method may include revoking thepermission based upon, at least in part, receiving an indication thatthe administrator has requested revocation of the permission. The methodmay include publishing the update, wherein the one or more aspects ofthe approval protocol are circumvented in accordance with the providedpermission. The method may include providing a notification of thepublishing of the update to an administrator associated with theworkflow. The method may include revoking the publishing based upon, atleast in part, receiving an indication that the administrator hasrequested revocation of the publishing. The permission may be providedbased upon, at least in part, a calendar-based rule. The permission maybe provided based upon, at least in part, identifying an individualassociated with the request. The permission may be provided based upon,at least in part, a type of the content item. The permission may beprovided based upon, at least in part, a type of the update to thecontent item.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a computer programproduct resides on a computer readable storage medium that has aplurality of instructions stored on it. When executed by a processor,the instructions cause a processor to perform operations includingreceiving an indication of a problem regarding a content item, thecontent item being subject to a workflow including an approval protocol.The operations include receiving a request for an emergency exception tothe workflow with respect to an update to the content item, the updatebeing associated with the problem. The operations include providingpermission for circumvention of one or more aspects of the approvalprotocol with respect to the update, in response to receiving therequest for the emergency exception.

One or more of the following features may be included. The operationsmay include providing a notification of the permission to anadministrator associated with the workflow. The operations may includerevoking the permission based upon, at least in part, receiving anindication that the administrator has requested revocation of thepermission. The operations may include publishing the update, whereinthe one or more aspects of the approval protocol are circumvented inaccordance with the provided permission. The operations may includeproviding a notification of the publishing of the update to anadministrator associated with the workflow. The operations may includerevoking the publishing based upon, at least in part, receiving anindication that the administrator has requested revocation of thepublishing. The permission may be provided based upon, at least in part,a calendar-based rule. The permission may be provided based upon, atleast in part, identifying an individual associated with the request.The permission may be provided based upon, at least in part, one or moreof a type of the content item and a type of the update to the contentitem.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, a computing systemincludes one or more processor devices and one or more memoryarchitectures coupled with the one or more processor devices. The one ormore processor devices are configured to receive an indication of aproblem regarding a content item, the content item being subject to aworkflow including an approval protocol. The one or more processordevices are configured to receive a request for an emergency exceptionto the workflow with respect to an update to the content item, theupdate being associated with the problem. The one or more processordevices are configured to provide permission for circumvention of one ormore aspects of the approval protocol with respect to the update, inresponse to receiving the request for the emergency exception.

One or more of the following features may be included. The one or moreprocessor devices may be configured to provide a notification of thepermission to an administrator associated with the workflow. The one ormore processor devices may be configured to revoke the permission basedupon, at least in part, receiving an indication that the administratorhas requested revocation of the permission. The one or more processordevices may be configured to publish the update wherein the one or moreaspects of the approval protocol are circumvented in accordance with theprovided permission. The one or more processor devices may be configuredto provide a notification of the publishing of the update to anadministrator associated with the workflow. The one or more processordevices may be configured to revoke the publishing based upon, at leastin part, receiving an indication that the administrator has requestedrevocation of the publishing. The permission may be provided based upon,at least in part, one or more of a calendar-based rule, a type of thecontent item, a type of the update to the content item, and identifyingan individual associated with the request.

The details of one or more implementations are set forth in theaccompanying drawings and the description below. Other features andadvantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, andthe claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic view of an Emergency Content Update processcoupled to a distributed computing network;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process executed by the Emergency ContentUpdate process of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart view of a process executed by the EmergencyContent Update process of FIG. 1.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the present inventionmay be embodied as a method, system, or computer program product.Accordingly, the present invention may take the form of an entirelyhardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (includingfirmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodimentcombining software and hardware aspects that may all generally bereferred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore,the present invention may take the form of a computer program product ona computer-usable storage medium having computer-usable program codeembodied in the medium.

Any suitable computer usable or computer readable medium may beutilized. The computer usable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer-usable, orcomputer-readable, storage medium (including a storage device associatedwith a computing device or client electronic device) may be, forexample, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical,electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, ordevice, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specificexamples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer-readable medium wouldinclude the following: an electrical connection having one or morewires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory(RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compactdisc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device. In thecontext of this document, a computer-usable, or computer-readable,storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store aprogram for use by or in connection with the instruction executionsystem, apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the presentinvention may be written in an object oriented programming language suchas Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like. However, the computer program codefor carrying out operations of the present invention may also be writtenin conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The program codemay execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user'scomputer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may beconnected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or awide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an externalcomputer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet ServiceProvider).

The present invention is described below with reference to flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) andcomputer program products according to embodiments of the invention. Itwill be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/orblock diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computerprogram instructions. These computer program instructions may beprovided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purposecomputer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce amachine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor ofthe computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, createmeans for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchartand/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

A workflow management application (or process) may facilitate themanagement of workflow for particular content items (e.g., a document, awebpage, a software code segment, and so on) and/or modifications tocontent items. For example, a workflow management application may beconfigured to assist in creating, modifying, approving, publishing, ordeleting content items, management of various aspects of these tasks,and various other workflow-related functionality. A workflow managementapplication may, for example, facilitate saving of one or more versionsof a content item (e.g., to a storage device associated with theworkflow management application), notifying content authors and/orcontent reviewers or approvers of various assignments, statuses,upcoming events (e.g., due dates), publishing the content item, and soon. As such, for example, a workflow management application maygenerally facilitate the flow of information (e.g., informationregarding particular tasks or events) in a workflow system.

A workflow management application (or process) may include, in certaininstances, web content management functionality (e.g., functionalityfacilitating the management of documents, such as webpages, that may beavailable over various networks, including the internet, corporateintranets, and so on.)

Content approval may refer to the process through which approval of aparticular content item (and/or revisions thereto) may be managed (e.g.,as part of a workflow). It may be desirable, for example, in varioussettings, to obtain approval from designated individuals for aparticular content item before publishing the content (and/or otherwiseadvancing the content through various stages of creation, refinement,distribution, and so on). In certain instances, it may be appropriate toobtain “tiered” or “serial” approval (i.e., approval from a series ofindividuals, with the content being submitted to the next approver(s) inthe series based upon receiving approval from the preceding approver(s)in the series). It will be understood that a content item (or “content”)may be a file or other representation of information, such as adocument, a webpage, a presentation, software code segment, and so on.Various examples discussed herein may include web content, such as webpages or other documents available over various networks. However, itwill be understood that the various functionality of the describedprocesses/systems may similarly apply to various other types of contentitems.

In certain instances, it may be necessary to publish “emergency” updatesto content items. (As used herein, an “update” to a content item mayinclude a revision to or replacement of a portion of an existing contentitem and/or the introduction of an entirely new content item.) An“emergency” update may, for example, describe a circumstance in which anupdate to a content item is necessary (e.g., because of some identifieddeficiency in previously-published content items) but in which thenature of the necessary update and/or the associated timingconsiderations may render processing of updates through the normalassociated workflow undesirable. For example, due to a pressing need tocreate and/or modify a content item (e.g., a need to fix an error on apublicly available webpage), there may not be sufficient time availablefor compliance with a normal approval workflow for the content item(e.g., the submission of the item to a designated set of reviewers forapproval) before the content item may need to be published. (It will beunderstood that “to publish,” as used herein, may mean to make a contentitem available to a particular set of individuals other than creatorsand/or approvers of the item. For example, a web page may be “published”when it is made available to the general public over the internet oremployees of a corporation over a corporate intranet.)

In certain embodiments, it may be useful to provide a process (orsystem, and so on) by which aspects of a relevant workflow for a contentitem (e.g., a required sequence of approval from various approvers) maybe circumvented, in light of the emergency nature of a particular updateto a particular content item. An Emergency Content Update (“ECU”)process (or application, and so on) may provide this and/or variousother functionality. For example, an ECU process may facilitate acontent author (and/or other individual) temporarily circumventing anormal approval process (e.g., as specified by a relevant workflow, suchas a workflow associated with a web content management application) inorder to quickly publish an emergency update to a content item (e.g.,webpage content). In certain embodiments, an ECU process mayadditionally/alternatively facilitate revocation of permission tocircumvent an approval process (e.g., at the request of anadministrator) before and/or after publication of a content update,and/or may facilitate review of a content item update by relevantreviewers (e.g., reviewers associated with the circumvented approvalprocess) before and/or after publication of the content update.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an ECU process may be coupled to a computer orcomputer network. For example, server ECU process 10 may reside on andmay be executed by server computer 12, which may be connected to network14 (e.g., the Internet or a local area network). Examples of servercomputer 12 may include, but are not limited to: a personal computer, aserver computer, a series of server computers, a mini computer, and/or amainframe computer. Server computer 12 may be a web server (or a seriesof servers) running a network operating system, examples of which mayinclude but are not limited to: Microsoft® Windows Server®; Novell®Netware®; or Red Hat® Linux®, for example. (Microsoft and Windows areregistered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States,other countries or both; Novell and NetWare are registered trademarks ofNovell Corporation in the United States, other countries or both; RedHat is a registered trademark of Red Hat Corporation in the UnitedStates, other countries or both; and Linux is a registered trademark ofLinus Torvalds in the United States, other countries or both.)

The instruction sets and subroutines of server ECU process 10, which maybe stored on storage device 16 coupled to server computer 12, may beexecuted by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memoryarchitectures (not shown) incorporated into server computer 12. Storagedevice 16 may include but is not limited to: a hard disk drive; a tapedrive; an optical drive; a RAID array; a random access memory (RAM); anda read-only memory (ROM).

Server computer 12 may execute a web server application, examples ofwhich may include but are not limited to: Microsoft® IIS, Novell® WebServer™, or Apache® Web Server, that allows for access to servercomputer 12 (via network 14) using one or more protocols, examples ofwhich may include but are not limited to HTTP (i.e., HyperText TransferProtocol), SIP (i.e., session initiation protocol), and the Lotus®Sametime® VP protocol. (Webserver is a trademark of Novell Corporationin the United States, other countries, or both; Apache is a registeredtrademarks of Apache Software Foundation in the United States, othercountries, or both; Lotus and Sametime are registered trademarks ofInternational Business Machine Corp. in the United States, othercountries, or both.) Network 14 may be connected to one or moresecondary networks (e.g., network 18), examples of which may include butare not limited to: a local area network; a wide area network; or anintranet, for example.

Client ECU processes 20, 22, 24, 26 may reside on and may be executed byclient electronic devices 28, 30, 32, and/or 34 (respectively), examplesof which may include but are not limited to personal computer 28, laptopcomputer 30, a data-enabled mobile telephone 32, notebook computer 34,personal digital assistant (not shown), smart phone (not shown) and adedicated network device (not shown), for example. Client electronicdevices 28, 30, 32, 34 may each be coupled to network 14 and/or network18 and may each execute an operating system, examples of which mayinclude but are not limited to Microsoft® Windows®, Microsoft WindowsCE®, Red Hat® Linux®, or a custom operating system.

The instruction sets and subroutines of client ECU processes 20, 22, 24,26, which may be stored on storage devices 36, 38, 40, 42 (respectively)coupled to client electronic devices 28, 30, 32, 34 (respectively), maybe executed by one or more processors (not shown) and one or more memoryarchitectures (not shown) incorporated into client electronic devices28, 30, 32, 34 (respectively). Storage devices 36, 38, 40, 42 mayinclude but are not limited to: hard disk drives; tape drives; opticaldrives; RAID arrays; random access memories (RAM); read-only memories(ROM); compact flash (CF) storage devices; secure digital (SD) storagedevices; and memory stick storage devices.

In an embodiment, the ECU process may be a server-side process (e.g.,which may be implemented via server ECU process 10), in which all of thefunctionality of the ECU process may be executed on a server computer(e.g., server computer 12). In an embodiment, the ECU process may be aclient-side process (e.g., which may be implemented via one or more ofclient ECU processes 20, 22, 24, 26), in which all of the functionalityof the ECU process may be executed on a client computing device (e.g.,one or more of client electronic devices 28, 30, 32, 34). In anembodiment, the ECU process may be a hybrid server-client process (e.g.,which may be implemented by server ECU process 10 and one or more ofclient ECU processes 20, 22, 24, 26), in which at least a portion of thefunctionality of the ECU process may be implemented via server computer12 and at least a portion of the functionality of the ECU process may beimplemented via one or more client computing devices (e.g., one or moreof client electronic devices 28, 30, 32, 34).

In certain embodiments, an ECU process may be a stand-alone process. Incertain embodiments, an ECU process may operate as part of, or inconjunction with, one or more other processes and/or may include one ormore other processes. For example, in certain embodiments, an ECUprocess may be included in (or may operate in conjunction with) aWorkflow Management (“WM”) application (or process), which may generallyfacilitate the management of workflow for particular content items(e.g., a document, a webpage, a software code segment, and so on) and/ormodifications to content items. For example, as also noted above, aworkflow management application may be configured to assist in creating,modifying, approving, publishing, or deleting content items, managementof various aspects of these tasks, and various other workflow-relatedfunctionality. A WM application may, for example, facilitate saving ofone or more versions of a content item and/or notifying content authorsand/or content reviewers or approvers of various assignments, statuses,upcoming events (e.g., due dates), and so on. As such, for example, a WMapplication may generally facilitate the flow of information (e.g.,information regarding particular tasks or events) in a workflow system.In certain embodiments, a WM application may include (and/or beassociated with) a web content management system, which may facilitatethe management of web documents (e.g., webpages) that may be publishedfor consumption over various networks, including the internet, corporateintranets, and so on.

A WM application (or process) may operate (and/or reside) on a clientdevice (e.g., client WM application 44, operating on client electronicdevice 28; client application WM 46, operating on client electronicdevice 30; client WM application 48, operating on client electronicdevice 32; or client WM application 50, operating on client electronicdevice 34). A client ECU process (e.g., client ECU process 20) or aserver ECU process (e.g., server ECU process 10) may be in communicationwith a client WM application (e.g., client WM application 44) or may bepart of a client WM application.

A WM application may additionally/alternatively operate (and/or reside)on a server device (e.g., server WM application 52, operating on servercomputer 12 or another server WM application (not shown), operating onanother server computer (not shown)). A server ECU process (e.g., serverECU process 10) or a client ECU process (e.g., client ECU process 20)may be in communication with a server WM application (e.g., server WMapplication 52) or may be a part of a server WM application.

Users 54, 56, 58, 60 may access an ECU process in various ways. Forexample, these users may access server ECU process 10 directly throughthe device on which a client process (e.g., client ECU processes 20, 22,24, 26) is executed, namely client electronic devices 28, 30, 32, 34.Users 54, 56, 58, 60 may access server ECU process 10 directly throughnetwork 14 and/or through secondary network 18. Further, server computer12 (i.e., the computer that executes server ECU process 10) may beconnected to network 14 through secondary network 18, as illustratedwith phantom link line 62. Users 54, 56, 58, 60 may also access a clientor server WM application (or process) in similar ways.

The various client electronic devices may be directly or indirectlycoupled to network 14 (or network 18). For example, personal computer 28is shown directly coupled to network 14 via a hardwired networkconnection. Further, notebook computer 34 is shown directly coupled tosecondary network 18 via a hardwired network connection. Laptop computer30 is shown wirelessly coupled to network 14 via wireless communicationchannel 64 established between laptop computer 30 and wireless accesspoint (“WAP”) 66, which is shown directly coupled to network 14. WAP 66may be, for example, an IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, Wi-Fi,and/or Bluetooth device that is capable of establishing wirelesscommunication channel 64 between laptop computer 30 and WAP 66.Data-enabled mobile telephone 32 is shown wirelessly coupled to network14 via wireless communication channel 68 established betweendata-enabled mobile telephone 32 and cellular network/bridge 70, whichis shown directly coupled to network 14.

As is known in the art, all of the IEEE 802.11x specifications may useEthernet protocol and carrier sense multiple access with collisionavoidance (i.e., CSMA/CA) for path sharing. The various 802.11xspecifications may use phase-shift keying (i.e., PSK) modulation orcomplementary code keying (i.e., CCK) modulation, for example. As isknown in the art, Bluetooth is a telecommunications industryspecification that allows e.g., mobile phones, computers, and personaldigital assistants to be interconnected using a short-range wirelessconnection.

For the following discussion, client ECU process 20 will be describedfor illustrative purposes. It will be understood that client ECU process20 may, for example, interact and/or communicate with a server ECUprocess such as server ECU process 10 and/or may be executed within oneor more applications that allow for communication with other serverand/or client ECU processes. This is not intended to be a limitation ofthis disclosure, as other configurations are possible (e.g., ECU process20 may include stand-alone client processes and/or stand-alone serverprocesses). For example, some implementations may include one or more ofclient ECU processes 22, 24, 26 or server ECU process 10 in place of orin addition to client ECU process 20.

Referring now also to FIG. 2, there is shown a diagrammatic view of anexample process that may be implemented by an ECU process, e.g., clientECU process 20. Client ECU process 20 may receive 200 an indication of aproblem regarding a content item. As also noted above, a content itemmay be a document, a webpage, a software code segment, a file, one ormore portions of these items, and so on. A problem may take a variety offorms, including the inclusion of misleading or incorrect information ina content item, an issue with the appearance or functionality of acontent item (and/or a related feature), a typographical error ormisprint associated with a content item, and so on.

ECU process 20 may receive 200 an indication of a problem with a contentitem in a variety of ways, including through a user input from a varietyof individuals. For example, in certain embodiments, ECU process 20(and/or a related process or application, such as WM application 44) mayautomatically detect one or more problems associated with a content itemand may, for example, provide an alert to an administrator or otherindividual indicating the detected problem. In certain embodiments, anadministrator or other individual may identify a problem with a contentitem and may indicate the problem to ECU process 20 (and/or a relatedprocess or application, such as WM application 44) via one or more userinputs. For example, a content owner may review a web page in order toidentify various problems with the web page (e.g., typographical errors,erroneous information, faulty functionality, and so on) and may indicatewith various levels of specificity (e.g., through a user input via WMapplication 44) the presence of these errors.

In certain embodiments, the content item for which a problem has beenidentified may be subject to a workflow, including an approval protocol.As also described above, a workflow may include various steps,functionality, or other aspects relating to creating, modifying,approving, publishing, or deleting content items, management of variousaspects of these tasks, and various other workflow-relatedfunctionality. An approval protocol may be one or more requirements,steps, processes or other requirements that may be associated withapproval of a content item (e.g., as specified in a relevant workflow).In certain embodiments, for example, a workflow for a particular contentitem may include the requirement that one or more approvers (including,for example, a specific and ordered series of approvers) provideapproval of a content item (and/or any updates thereto) before thecontent item may be published and/or otherwise advanced through theworkflow.

ECU process 20 may receive 202 a request for an emergency exception to aworkflow with respect to an update to a content item, wherein the updateis associated with the problem. For example, a user may identify aproblem with a content item that may require an emergency update to thecontent item (e.g., an update that may not be possible to implement in atimely manner if a related approval protocol is strictly followed). Inorder to request an exception to the workflow (e.g., with respect to therelevant approval protocol), the user may accordingly select aparticular icon or action button in a user interface of a WM applicationassociated with the content item (e.g., a web content managementapplication) in order to request an emergency exception to the relevantworkflow with respect to an update intended to address the identifiedproblem. For example, a WM application (such as a web content managementapplication) may include an “Emergency Fix” button or icon (or similaruser interface component), which a user may select (alone or inconnection with the selection or other identification of the relevantcontent item, problem, and so on) in order to request an emergencyexception to a workflow. In this way (and/or other ways), a user may,for example, indicate that an update to a content item may be requiredin order to fix an identified problem, and that the update may requirean exception to the normal workflow for such an update (or content item)in order to be timely completed (e.g., timely published).

It will be understood that “emergency,” as used herein, may refer toproblems of varying severity. In general, “emergency,” as used herein,may refer to a problem for which time may be of the essence. As such,for example, an emergency update may be an update for which there maynot be sufficient time for a usual approval protocol to beimplemented/followed. It will be understood, however, that whether ornot an emergency condition applies may depend on a various factorsincluding the timing of a problem, the relevant individuals, groups,organizations, or projects associated with a problem or content item,and/or various other factors relating to a problem, content item,workflow, and so on.

In certain embodiments, a user requesting an emergency exception may bethe intended author of the relevant update. In certain embodiments, auser requesting an emergency exception may be an administrator, such asa designated owner/custodian of the content item, a supervisor or othermanager, an administrator of a relevant workflow process, an approverassociated with the relevant workflow or content item, and so on. (Itwill be understood, however, that although many of the examples hereindiscuss various user inputs, in certain embodiments ECU process 20 mayreceive 202 a request for an emergency exception—and/or execute variousother functionality—based upon automated input(s) in addition/as analternative to user input(s).)

In certain embodiments, a received 202 request may include additionalinformation beyond simply a request to circumvent an aspect of arelevant workflow (such as, for example, an aspect of a related approvalprotocol). For example, a received 202 request may include informationassociated with the type of update contemplated, the proposed author(s)of the update, a classification of the emergency (e.g., the severity ofthe emergency, the business units or projects to which the emergencyrelates, and so on), and/or various other types of informationassociated with the content item, the relevant workflow (including therelevant approval protocol), the proposed update, and so on. Forexample, continuing the discussion above, upon clicking the “EmergencyFix” button, a user may be presented with a dialog box facilitatinginput of various relevant information such as the nature of the problem,the proposed update, the proposed author of the update, the proposedtiming of the update, and so on.

In certain embodiments, ECU process 20 may receive 200 an indication ofa problem with a content item as part of receiving 202 a request for anemergency exception to a related workflow. For example, a user mayidentify a problem with a content item through visual inspection of thecontent item and may both indicate the problem and request an exceptionto the relevant workflow as part of a single input (and/or multiplerelated inputs). In certain embodiments, ECU process 20 may receive 200an indication of a problem with a content item separately from receiving202 a request for an emergency exception to a related workflow. Forexample, in certain embodiments one user (e.g., a content author) mayindicate a problem with a content item and another user (e.g., anadministrator) may request an emergency exception to a related workflow,or a single user may separately indicate the existence of a problem(e.g., by highlighting the relevant portion of the content item) andrequest an emergency exception relating to that problem.

ECU process 20 may provide 204 permission for circumvention of one ormore aspects of the approval protocol with respect to the update, inresponse to receiving 202 the request for the emergency exception. Forexample, ECU process 20 may provide 204 permission for an update to acontent item (the update being related to an identified problem) to bepublished without first being approved by one or more approvers,although such approval may be required as part of a relevantnon-emergency approval protocol. Such permission may be provided 204 ina variety of ways. For example, in certain embodiments aspects of theworkflow (e.g., aspects of an approval protocol) may be temporarilysuspended with respect to the relevant content item and an associated WMapplication, thereby allowing a user to proceed with an update withoutsubmitting to the suspended aspects of the workflow. In certainembodiments, an electronic “ticket” or “token” may be issued to relevantindividuals (e.g., relevant authors) indicating permission to circumventaspects of a relevant approval protocol. As such, for example, untilsuch a ticket or token is revoked, a WM application (and/or otherapplication or process) may permit the relevant individuals to publishupdates to relevant content items (and/or engage in other relatedactivities) without submitting such publication (and/or otheractivities) to a normal approval protocol.

In certain embodiments, the provided 204 permission for circumvention ofone or more aspects of an approval protocol may relate to whether anauthor of an emergency update is allowed to edit a content item at all(e.g., in addition/as an alternative to whether the author may publishany edits). For example, in certain embodiments, unless appropriatepermission is provided 204, a particular content author may not beauthorized (i.e., under a relevant approval protocol) to make any editsto a particular content item.

In certain embodiments, the provided 204 permission may allowcircumvention of only a portion of the relevant approval protocol. Forexample, with respect to a particular content item, the ordinaryapproval protocol may require approval of updates by five approvers insequence. In certain embodiments, the provided 204 permission may permitpublication of an emergency update with respect to the content itemafter approval by only one (or more) of the five approvers, therebyallowing publication on an expedited basis while still assuring thatsome approval is required. Similarly, in certain embodiments, a provided204 permission to circumvent an aspect of an approval protocol mayinclude a requirement that an alternative approval protocol besubstituted for the original approval protocol. For example, anorganization may designate certain “emergency approvers,” who may be oncall at various times with respect to various types of content itemsand/or content items problems. As such, if an emergency update isnecessary for a particular content item, providing 204 permission tocircumvent the usual approval protocol for that content item may includerequiring that one of these emergency approvers (and/or one or moreother approvers) still approve the update.

In certain embodiments, the provided 204 permission may be a permissionfor a temporary (rather than permanent) circumvention of aspects of anapproval protocol. For example, as discussed in further detail below,although ECU process 20 may facilitate publication of an emergencyupdate without submission of the update to a normal approval protocol,ECU process 20 may further facilitate providing any published update torelevant approvers (e.g., approvers associated with the circumventedapproval protocol) for after-publication (and/or other) review (e.g., inaccordance with various aspects of the previously-circumvented approvalprotocol). This may be useful, for example, in that providing 204permission for temporary circumvention of aspects of an approvalprotocol may facilitate timely updates to content items (e.g., asrequired in an emergency) while also ensuring that an eventual review ofthe update still occurs in relative accordance with the approvalprotocol. For example, this may be useful if an important update to acontent item is immediately required outside of normal business hours,when each approver associated with an approval protocol may not beavailable. Based upon the provided 204 permission, an update may beprovided in a timely manner, without being immediately subjected to therelevant approval protocol. However, as also discussed below, the updatemay then later (e.g., after publication) be subjected to an appropriateapproval protocol (e.g., a protocol similar to the circumventedprotocol, except with regard to the post-publication timing) in order tobalance the need to provide the update promptly and the need to ensurethat all updates are appropriately reviewed.

In certain embodiments, ECU process 20 may provide 204 permission tocircumvent an approval protocol to an individual other than theindividual from whom a request for an emergency exception was received202. For example, in certain embodiments an administrator (or anotherindividual) may identify a problem requiring an emergency update and mayaccordingly request an emergency exception to the relevant workflow. Theadministrator, however, may intend that a different individual act asthe author of the relevant emergency update (e.g., as indicated by aninput associated with the administrator's request for an emergencyexception). Accordingly, for example, ECU process 20 may receive 202 arequest for the emergency exception from the administrator and mayprovide 204 permission for circumvention of the relevant approvalprotocol to a different individual (e.g., the content author identifiedby the administrator). Similarly, in certain embodiments ECU process 20may generally provide 204 permission with respect to a particular updaterather than with respect to a particular author or administrator. Forexample, ECU process 20 may provide 204 permission by associating aticket with the content item (and/or identified problem) that isassociated with a received 202 request, thereby facilitatingcircumvention of aspects of a relevant approval protocol by whatevercontent author eventually creates the relevant update.

In certain embodiments, ECU process 20 may provide 204 permission tocircumvent an approval protocol in a limited way, such as only on atemporary basis, only with respect to a particular individual and/orchange, only until after the emergency update has been published, and soon. For example, in certain embodiments, the provided 204 permission mayapply only with respect to a single requested emergency update, suchthat the normal workflow (e.g., the normal sequence of approval) for aparticular content item or update thereto may be unchanged with respectto situations besides the present emergency. Similarly, in certainembodiments, the provided 204 permission may facilitate circumventingnormal workflow (e.g., sequence of approvers) for an update to a contentitem until after the update has been published (and/or another relevantevent has occurred), at which point the workflow may be reinstated. Forexample, the provided 204 permission may facilitate publication of anemergency update without subjecting the update to a normal sequence ofapproval, but such approval may still be required for the update afterpublication (and/or at another time). For example, if suchpost-publication (or other) approval is not received in a timely manner,the publication of the content item update may be revoked (i.e., theupdate may be removed from publication based upon not receivingappropriate (post-publication) approval).

ECU process 20 may provide 206 a notification of the provided 204permission to one or more administrators associated with the workflow.As noted above, an administrator may be a designated owner/custodian ofthe content item, a supervisor or other manager, an administrator of arelevant workflow process, an approver associated with the relevantworkflow or content item, and so on. For example, in order to ensurethat appropriate review of emergency updates may occur, ECU process 20may provide 206, to appropriate individuals such as approvers designatedby the circumvented approval protocol, one or more notifications thatpermission for an emergency update (i.e., circumvention of aspects of arelevant approval protocol) may have been provided 204. Notification maybe provided 206 by a variety of means, such as email, text message andso on. Additionally/alternatively, a provided 206 notification mayinclude various information relating to the received 202 request and/orthe provided 204 permission, such as the identity or othercharacteristics of the content item, the nature of the desired update,the nature of the problem or emergency, the identity of the individualwho has requested the exception, the identity of the author of theupdate, and so on.

Providing 206 a notification of the provision 204 of permission tocircumvent an approval protocol may be useful for example, as it mayalert relevant managers, approvers, and/or other individuals that anemergency update may be in progress and may allow such individuals, asappropriate, to provide an indication that they do not approve of thepermission having been provided 204. For example, in response toproviding 206 a notification of the provided 204 permission, ECU process20 may receive 208 an indication that a notified administrator hasrequested revocation of the permission. For example, upon receiving anotification that permission for an emergency update has been provided204 with respect to a particular content item, with respect to aparticular content author, and so on, an administrator may decide, forvarious reasons, that it may not be appropriate to circumvent therelevant approval protocol for that content item, content author, and soon. For example, an administrator may not approve of the particularauthor of the update publishing content without appropriate approval,the administrator may not approve of any updates to a particular contentitem (or of a particular type, and so on) being published withoutappropriate approval, the administrator may not view the situation asappropriately qualifying as an emergency, the administrator may not viewthe identified problem as actually requiring correction, and so on. Assuch, for example, an administrator may provide an input in variousforms (e.g., through a WM application) that may indicate to ECU process20 that the administrator desires to revoke the provided 204 permission.

As appropriate, based upon receiving 208 an indication that anadministrator has requested revocation of the provided 204 permission,ECU process 20 may revoke 210 the provided 204 permission. For example,if permission has been provided 204 through the granting of anelectronic “ticket” or “token,” ECU process 20 may revoke the validityof the granted ticket or token, thereby revoking the permission tocircumvent the approval protocol. In certain embodiments, ECU process 20may partially revoke 210 the provided 204 permission. For example, anoriginally provided 204 permission may include permission to publish anupdate without any approval, even though the normal approval protocolfor a non-emergency update of the relevant content item may includerequired approval by a series of four approvers. Based upon, forexample, receiving 208 an input from an administrator (e.g., in responseto a provided 206 notification), ECU process 20, in certain embodiments,may revoke 210 the provided 204 permission, but only with respect to thecircumvention of one of the approvers included in the normal approvalprotocol. For example, ECU process 20 may maintain the previouslyprovided 204 permission to circumvent three of the four approvers in theapproval protocol, thereby permitting emergency publication of theupdate after (a truncated) approval protocol implicating only one of theoriginal four approvers. In this way, for example, publication of theemergency update may be accelerated, with respect to the normal approvalprotocol, but some approval may still be required before publication maybe permitted.

It will be understood that, in certain embodiments, only certainadministrators may have the authority to request revocation of aprovided 204 permission. For example, in certain embodiments, anotification may be provided 206 to the owner of a content item, thevarious approvers of updates to the content item under the circumventedapproval protocol, the supervisor of the author of the update, and/orvarious other administrators. However, only certain of the notifiedadministrators (e.g., the content owner and the supervisor of theauthor) may be authorized to request revocation of the provided 204permission.

ECU process 20 may (if, for example, the provided 204 permission is notrevoked 210) publish 212 the update to the content item. (As also notedabove, “to publish,” as used herein, may mean to make a content itemavailable to a particular set of individuals other than creators and/orapprovers of the item. For example, a web page may be “published” whenit is made available—in whole or in part—to the general public over theinternet or to employees of a corporation over a corporate intranet.) Inpublishing 212 the update, one or more aspects of the approval protocolmay be circumvented in accordance with the provided 204 permission. Forexample, although a normal approval protocol for a workflow associatedwith a non-emergency update may require approval of the update bycertain approvers before it is published, based upon ECU process 20providing 204 permission for circumvention of an aspect of the approvalprotocol, certain emergency updates may be published 212 without one ormore of the ordinarily-required approvals. In this way, for example, asalso noted above, emergency updates may be published 212 in a moretimely fashion than may be possible if full review/approval of theupdates were to be required (i.e., if permission to circumvent aspectsof the approval protocol were not provided 204).

ECU process 20 may provide 214 notification of the publishing 212 of theupdate to one or more administrators. As noted above, an administratormay be a designated owner/custodian of the content item, a supervisor orother manager, an administrator of a relevant workflow process, anapprover associated with the relevant workflow or content item, and soon. It may be useful, accordingly, to provide 214 a notification to anadministrator when an emergency update has been published. Suchnotification may be provided by a variety of means, such as email, textmessage and so on, and may include a variety of information relating tothe content item, the update, associated individuals, and so on (similarto the discussion above, for example, with respect to providing 206notifications of provided 204 permission).

Providing 214 a notification may serve a variety of purposes. Forexample, in certain embodiments providing 214 a notification may alertvarious relevant administrators that an emergency update has beenpublished. This may be useful, for example, in order to ensure thatcertain administrators are aware that an identified problem has beenappropriately (and timely) addressed. For example, in certainembodiments providing 214 a notification may facilitate review of thepublished 212 update by appropriate approvers. For example, as alsonoted above, the provided 204 permission for circumvention of anapproval protocol may apply with respect to initial publication 212 ofan update, but it may still be desirable to implement approval (e.g., inrelative accordance with the circumvented approval protocol) after theupdate has been published 212 (and/or at various other times during theexecution of ECU process 20). In this way, for example, a balance may beachieved between prompt/timely publication 212 of emergency updates(i.e., to address identified problems in a timely manner) andappropriate review of the emergency updates (i.e., to ensure that theupdates meet with the approval of relevant approvers).

Based upon, for example, providing 214 a notification of publication,ECU process 20 may receive 216 an indication that the administrator hasrequested revocation of the publishing 212. For example, upon receivinga notification that an emergency update has been published, anadministrator (e.g., an approver forming part of the circumventedapproval protocol) may review the published update and may determinethat the update is not satisfactory. Accordingly, the approver mayprovide (e.g., via an input to ECU process 20 and/or WM application 44)an indication that the update does not meet with her approval. ECUprocess 20 may, accordingly, revoke 218 the publishing 212 based uponthe received 216 indication.

In certain embodiments, ECU process 20 may additionally/alternativelyrevoke 218 publication of an emergency update based upon receiving 208an indication that an administrator has requested revocation of theprovided 204 permission. For example, an administrator may have receiveda provided 206 notification that permission to circumvent an approvalprotocol has been provided 204 with respect to a particular emergencyupdate. Upon review of this notification (and/or other relevantinformation), the administrator may determine that the provided 204permission is inappropriate and may request (e.g., through an input toECU process 20 and/or WM application 44) that the permission be revoked210. In response to receiving 208 an indication of such a request, ECUprocess 20 may revoke 210 the permission accordingly.Additionally/alternatively, if, for example the content item has alreadybeen published 212 when such an indication is received 208, ECU processmay similarly revoke 218 the publication based upon receiving 208 anindication that the administrator does not approve of the provided 204permission.

ECU process 20 may revoke 218 publication in a variety of ways. Forexample, in certain embodiments, revocation 210 of publication may beeffected through reinstatement of a previous version of a content item(e.g., the version of the content item from immediately prior to thepublication 210 of the emergency update). In certain embodiments, suchreinstatement may not be appropriate, however. For example, if theidentified problem is a critical one it may be preferable (e.g., asdetermined based upon administrator input, system settings, and so on)to remove the relevant content item from publication entirely ratherthan simply revert to a prior draft. As such, for example, rather thancausing a content item to revert to a prior version upon revoking 218publication, ECU process 20 may cause the content item to be no longeravailable at all (at least with respect to a particular audience). Inthis way, for example, if a particular problem is particularlyegregious, ECU process 20 may appropriately cause the complete removalof the content item (e.g., until a suitable correction may be made).

ECU process 20 may provide 204 permission for circumvention of aspectsof the approval protocol based on a variety of factors (e.g., as may bedetermined based upon system settings or preferences, administratorinput, and so on). For example, providing 204 permission may be basedupon a calendar-based rule 220. A calendar-based rule may be a rule thatis associated with a particular calendar date, clock time, span of datesand/or times, calendar event, and so on. For example, in certainembodiments ECU process 20 may provide 204 permission based uponreceiving 202 a request for an emergency exception outside of businessours, during holidays, during a scheduled meeting of group managers, andso on (i.e., during times during which prompt review of an update by anapprover may be unlikely).

In certain embodiments, providing 204 permission may be based uponidentifying 222 an individual associated with the received 202 request.For example, ECU process 20 may determine whether to provide 204permission based upon identifying 222 the individual requesting thepermission, identifying 222 the proposed author of the update, an ownerof the content, identifying 222 an approver of the content, and so on.For example, based upon various system preferences, ECU process 20 maydetermine that a particular content owner does not approve of emergencyupdates being made to his content. Accordingly, upon identifying 222that this content owner owns the content with respect to which a requesthas been received 202, ECU process 20 may not provide 204 permission tocircumvent approval protocol. Similarly, for example, ECU process 20 maydetermine that it may never be appropriate to circumvent an approvalprotocol (or an aspect thereof) that includes a particular individual(e.g., the company CEO). Accordingly, for example, upon identifying 222that the particular individual may be associated with a relevantapproval protocol, ECU process 20 may not provide 204 permission tocircumvent the protocol.

Similarly, certain authors (or types of authors) may be generallypermitted to make (and/or certain administrators or types ofadministrators may be permitted to successfully request) only certaintypes of updates. For example, in certain embodiments, marketingpersonnel may be permitted to author emergency updates to marketingcontent only, and only legal personnel of a particular rank may bepermitted to author emergency updates to legal content. Accordingly, forexample, ECU process 20 may take this information into account indetermining whether to provide 204 permission to circumvent a relevantapproval protocol.

In certain embodiments, providing 204 permission may be based upon thetype 224 of the content item. For example, in certain embodimentsemergency updates to particular types of content may be generallypermissible, while emergency updates to other types of content may notbe. For example, in certain embodiments emergency updates to theFrequently Asked Questions (“FAQ”) portion of a webpage may be generallypermissible, whereas emergency updates to a legal notice contained on awebpage may not be generally permissible. Similarly, for example,emergency updates may, in certain embodiments, be permissible only forpress releases or media announcements, only for new content rather thanold content, only for updates to old content rather than new content,and so on.

It will be understood, as used herein, that “type of content” may referto the nature of an entire content item and/or to the nature of aparticular portion of a single content item. For example, emergencyupdates to a particular portion of a website, such as a productdescription, may be generally permissible, whereas emergency updates toa different portion of the website, such as a photo of the product, maynot be—in both cases, based upon a “type” (i.e., “product description”and “product photo”) of content associated with the relevant websiteportion.

In certain embodiments, providing 204 permission may be based upon thetype 226 of the emergency update. For example, ECU process 20 mayprovide 204 (or not provide 204) permission to circumvent an approvalprotocol based upon a type of change associated with the emergencyupdate (e.g., whether the update is an edit adding material to anexisting content item, an update adding entirely new content items, adeletion of material, and so on), a location of the change (e.g.,whether the change relates to a particular portion of a web page, to aparticular portion of an intranet architecture, and so on), and/orvarious other considerations concerning the type 226 of the relevantupdate.

It will be understood that various of the examples above (and/or otherexamples) relating to whether permission may be provided 204 by ECUprocess 20 may be applied in various combinations. For example,providing 204 permission may be based upon both the type 224 of thecontent item and identifying 222 the individual requesting thepermission. For example, only an author identified 222 as a lawyer maybe permitted to create updates of a legal type 226 to a web page.Similarly, for example, ECU process 20 may provide 204 permission basedupon the combination of a calendar-based rule 220 and the type 224 ofcontent. For example, emergency changes to an online product catalog(but not, for example, to other types 224 of content items) may bepermitted only between 5 AM and 7 AM on the first Wednesday of everymonth, when the online catalog may be regularly scheduled to bepublished and emergency changes may be likely to be required.

In certain embodiments, various records with respect to the operation ofECU process 20 may be stored in a data repository (e.g., a datarepository associated with a particular workflow or content item) and/ormay be presented to one or more administrators (and/or other users). Forexample, ECU process 20 may provide to an administrator a list ofemergency updates requested and/or made to a content item (and/orvarious associated information such as the individual(s) who requestedpermission to make the emergency update, the individual(s) who made theupdate, various aspects of the timing of such requests or updates, andso on), a record of one or more items to which emergency updates havebeen made, a comparison of the actual workflow implemented for anemergency change to the workflow for an item in non-emergencysituations, and so on. In certain embodiments, similar (and/or other)information may be associated with a particular content item (and/or arelated data repository or object). For example, ECU process 20 mayassociate metadata with a content item, or may edit a workflow historyassociated with the item, in order to record (with respect to the item)various emergency exceptions to normal workflow, any pre- and/orpost-publication review of emergency updates (e.g., review by approversassociated with a normal workflow), any denials of requests foremergency exceptions, and so on.

Referring now also to FIG. 3, a proposed change to a content item may beidentified 300. If the proposed change is not an emergency change, thenormal change control process 302 may be implemented (e.g., the normalapproval protocol may be enforced). If, however, the change is anemergency change, an emergency change event may be created 304. This mayprompt, for example, both notification of various administrators(including various approvers) thereby facilitating review 308 of therequested emergency change, and granting of permission to execute theemergency change thereby facilitating an issuance of a ticket for theediting 306 and and/or publication of the relevant content item.

If at any point in the editing 306 of a content item a relevant ticketis revoked (e.g., based upon an administrator reviewing 308 anddisapproving the emergency event, any changes made by the author may becancelled 312 and the content item may be reverted 310 to a prior state.In certain embodiments, revocation of a ticket may also revoke accessrights (e.g., as well as publication rights) with respect to aparticular author and/or content item. If, however, a relevant ticket isnot revoked, finalized changes to the content item may be published 314.

Upon publication 314 of the content item, various approvers (and/orother administrators) may be notified 316 of the publication. If theapprovers do not appropriately approve the published 314 changes, thechanges may be cancelled 312 and the content item may be reverted 310 toa prior state. If, however, the approvers do appropriately approve thepublished 314 changes, the approval may be recorded 318 and thepublication 314 of the changed content item may be maintained.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be notedthat, in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in theblock may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present disclosure has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the disclosure in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the disclosure and the practical application, and toenable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the disclosurefor various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

A number of embodiments and implementations have been described.Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may bemade. Accordingly, other embodiments and implementations are within thescope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:receiving, by one or more computing devices, an indication of a problemregarding a content item, the content item being subject to a workflowincluding an approval protocol, wherein the approval protocol includesapproval of the content item by one or more predetermined approvers;receiving, by the one or more computing devices, a request for anemergency exception to the workflow with respect to an update to thecontent item, the update being associated with the problem; providing,by the one or more computing devices, permission for circumvention ofone or more aspects of the approval protocol with respect to the update,in response to receiving the request for the emergency exception;providing a notification of the permission for circumvention of one ormore aspects of the approval protocol to an administrator associatedwith the workflow; receiving an indication that the administrator hasrequested revocation of the permission for circumvention of one or moreaspects of the approval protocol; revoking the permission forcircumvention of one or more aspects of the approval protocol basedupon, at least in part, the request for revocation from theadministrator; publishing the update, wherein the one or more aspects ofthe approval protocol are circumvented in accordance with the providedpermission; providing a notification of the publishing of the update toan administrator associated with the workflow; and revoking thepublishing based upon, at least in part, receiving an indication thatthe administrator has requested revocation of the publishing.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the permission isprovided based upon, at least in part, a calendar-based rule.
 3. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the permission isprovided based upon, at least in part, identifying an individualassociated with the request.
 4. The computer-implemented method of claim1 wherein the permission is provided based upon, at least in part, atype of the content item.
 5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1wherein the permission is provided based upon, at least in part, a typeof the update to the content item.